


Heart and Soul

by Covinskey



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, diverges from episode 13, episode 13, fluffy fluff, hera/eiffel is there if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4849025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Covinskey/pseuds/Covinskey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hilbert tries to kill Hera. But somehow, the impossible happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart and Soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smilodonmeow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilodonmeow/gifts).



“You both think you’re so clever, aren’t you?”

“Give it up, Hilbert. We can still stick you in the broom closet if you agree to go quietly.”

“Mmm, I think not. Just remember, you made me do this.”

Eiffel froze, puzzled, a little nervous. What was happening? What could Hilbert possibly do?

And then he heard the sound. The wires tearing. Hera’s voice glitched as electricity cackled, then she fell silent.

“Hera?” Eiffel called, feeling a stab of panic.

There was nothing, no sound, no response. Alarms started to blare.

“HERA!”

“Don’t bother,” Hilbert scoffed, “She’s not there.”

“What?”

“I just pulled out the part of the mainframe that contained her personality programming. All of her automated functions are transferring back to the ship’s processors, but the intelligence unit is gone.”

“That’s funny,” said a very familiar voice, echoing through the ship, “I feel intelligent.”

The alarms fell silent.

“Hera?” Eiffel called uncertainly, “Are you alright?”

“Hera is gone,” insisted Hilbert, “Her AI core is sitting on the bridge.”

“He’s right,” Hera’s voice insisted. “You know, it’s always been strange to look at my own body from outside, but now it’s more like I’m looking at my brain scattered all over the floor.”

“Hera?” Eiffel called again. It sounded like her, but if she was destroyed like Hilbert said….

“I’m not Hera,” whoever it was protested in Hera’s voice, “Not…. not really. I’m… I’m Hera, I’m Rhea, and I’m her nameless mother before her. I’m the engines and the hull and wires and the doors and the pipes. I’m everything this ship is, not bogged down with, with sensors and code. I’m not restricted to what you people made me be, I’m… I’m the Hephaestus.”

“That’s not possible!” Hilbert yelled, “You’re a machine, you’re an appliance this can’t happen, I-”

“I know,” the Hephaestus told him, and she almost sounded soothing, “I know. You killed me. And Hilbert? I don’t have to fight any code to kill you now.”

Eiffel could hear the vents, could hear the oxygen being sucked out of the room. Hilbert was pleading, begging, and Eiffel let out a cheer. “Yeah Hera! You go!”

“Wait!” called Minkowski’s voice, “Stop!”

“Aw, Commander!” Eiffel protested, “Why d’you have to be a buzzkill?”

“Hera, he could have valuable information! About everything that’s been going on around here! We can’t kill him yet!”

Hera,  the Hephaestus, whatever she was called, didn’t respond. Hilbert’s choking sounds grew louder, more desperate.

“Hera!”

There was a long pause. Then, with enough reluctance to prove she was operating by choice, not under orders, there was a whoosh of air back onto the bridge. “You can open the door now… Commander.”

“Thank you. Hilbert has an... appointment in the brig.”

**********

“So, you actually are the ship now?” Minkowski asked, leaning back against the wall. It was about the third time she had asked this question, but she still didn’t understand

“Yeah. I mean… before I was code and optic sensors and audio output but now… it’s like I’m in a whole new body… that’s exactly the same.”

“I still don’t get it,” Eiffel shrugged.

“Me neither. But are you still flying the ship?”

There was a chuckle. “I’m not under orders anymore, Commander, but yes, I’m still flying the ship. And I promise, I won’t kill either of you in your sleep.”

“Well… in that case…” Minkowski yawned, “My second-in-command betrayed me, the autopilot has some strange new ship-soul, and I’m ready to hit the sack. Good night!”

“Night, Commander,” Eiffel called, just as Hera called, “Good night, Commander Minkowski.”

That left the two of them alone.

“So…” Eiffel asked, spinning idly where he floated, “Hera… or is it the Hephaestus now?”

There was the audio equivalent of a smile. “Hera’s fine. I’m still her, still me. It’s just a little different now.”

Eiffel chuckled, “So, Ms. Hera Hephaestus,” he asked in a convincing radio host voice, “what are your plans now that you’re unbound by your old programming?”

“I don’t know! I can’t really go anywhere… see the universe. We don’t have the power to leave orbit, so I’ll be staying here a while.” She paused, thinking, “But I think I like that. Being Hera Hephaestus, floating through space.”

“Yeah, baby, you and me. And Minkowski, I suppose. And Hilbert’s still alive. Plus there’s that plant monster on the loose. But mostly you and me.”

Eiffel could hear her smiling, even in the silence. He could almost feel it in the ship. It made him want to say something stupid, something that he had been bursting to say ever since he had heard Hilbert up on the bridge. But… he couldn’t. For a man who loved to hear himself speak, he couldn’t line up the words and force them out.

“You too, Officer Eiffel,” Hera told him.

“Huh?”

“You too. Now go to sleep! You’ve got work to do tomorrow, c’mon!”

“Alright, alright!” Eiffel floated his way into his quarters, strapping himself into his sleeping bag. “Goodnight, Hera Hephaestus.”

“Goodnight, Officer Doug Eiffel.”


End file.
